it seems that the higher i climb, the greater i fear falling, or rather the harder i find myself being able to accept anything less than what i have managed to achieve.

yesterday's crm test was a major disappointment. not because it was poorly done, but because i believed it didn't turn out anywhere near the insanely pressurizing targets which i recently reached and left off at. sigh, there goes an 'A'... only way now to make up for it is to mug hard for final exams, only two weeks away. siann.

third project down and one remaining. what a huge burden off everyone's chest! presentation at meritus mandarin this afternoon was a unique and great experience for sure. being in the presence of the organization's board of directors and managers was already nerve racking, not to mention executing a presentation before everyone. but despite that, the guys did just awesome. so an appplaud to all of us! whoohoo! (:

yesterday marked the seniors' farewell and handing over of the unit's leadership to the 56th batch of newly installed ncos, at fmssrcy. its been a long while, and perhaps it is also time for me to hand over and move on.

NCOs' installation

fmssrcy seniors

P.S. thank you for all the priceless memories (:

world youth day 2008 held in sydney australia the past week has been extremely inspiring, faith rejuvenating and truely a testimony to the manifestation of the holy spirit. despite having been unable to attend, very tragically due to school commitments, following up with the modern day pilgrimage over the net has touched me in many personal ways including a reinvitation to receive His spirit and thus the strength to shine forth as a light onto the world. More significantly, it has made me ever so proud to be part of the big Catholic family spread throughout the world, yet led in unity by one sheppard.

hearing from those who went such as aly, meixia, nick, fr val, etc about their experiences and viewing their photos has made me really jealous! hahaha. nonetheless i am glad wyd08 has been impactful in many ways to us christians everywhere and i thank God for blessing us with such a meaningful event and the many reconciliations that took place during the time of wyd08.

im looking forward to the next wyd at madrid, spain in 2011. die die also must go then! LOL.

crowds at wyd sydney 2008 and cologne 2005 masses (services). truely, breathtaking and the largest gatherings on earth

courtesy of nick / source: http://www.wyd2008.org/ , http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?page=1&id=661963724

lol, of all people, my mom sent me this;

life's little lessons

• no one will manufacture a lock without a key. similarly, God won't give problems without solutions.
• every successful person has a painful story. every painful story has a successful ending. accept the pain and get ready for success.
• no one can go back and change a bad beginning, but anyone can start now and create a successful ending.
• if a problem can be solved, no need to worry about it. if a problem cannot be solved, what is the use of worrying?
• if you miss an opportunity, don't fill the eyes with tears. it may hide another better opportunity in front of you.
• 'changing the face' can change nothing. but 'facing the change' can change everything. don't complain about others; change yourself if you want peace.
• mistakes are painful when they happen. but year's later collection of mistakes is called experience, which leads to success.
• be bold when you lose, and be calm when you win. heated gold becomes ornament. beaten copper becomes wire. depleted stone becomes statue. so the more pain you get in life, the more valuable you become.

home at last! (:

the trip to bangkok will be an unforgettable one, with many new eye-openers and experiences gained during those few days, not forgetting the fun times spent with friends. we visited a few places of 'interest' during the nights, some of which we wouldn't want to return to and some we haven't had enough of. patpong was one of the few. being an infamous red light district, it felt rather intimidating the moment we got there. moreover, the little pimps didn't stop following us around till i pointed at a nearby starbucks and said,' nono, we going to coffee', which was true as we were just heading over for the drinks. haha.

the streets were filled with what they call, 'ping pong' shows. i dont think i'd want to imagine it all over again and describe them, so you can do some checking up on the internet. haha. nonetheless, ping pongs will never have the same meaning again! having thought about that, while it would have appeared entertaining to watch, it was actually saddening to witness how these young woman would have themselves sold and what people would resort to for money.

and incase you're wondering... no we didn't catch any of such performances, only short glimpses of bartop dancers and ladyboys (trannys) from the outsides. haha, that alone, was tramatizing enough!

streets of patpong

you'll find such entertainers in most of the clubs along patpong

getting our feet washed before the massage at the massage parlor

lol, the kind of pants we were provided with to change into before the massage

at one of the conferences

guess the eyes could tell the lack of sleep we had the previous night

lunch at one of TRIA's restaurants where only organic food is served

shopping along Pratunam

.......

returning home from Survarnabhumi airport

come to think of it, i feel very gayyyy now. hahaha.

apart from a couple of hours spent at the chatuchak weekend market having done some exploring and shopping, the rest of the day was just packed with meetings, corporate tours and conferences after conferences. fatigue and irritability is beginning to kick in, fueled by a certain group of guests whom just checked in this morning and is already disrupting the peace here... and im ready to screw the next bugger from that group who pisses me off.

one of the tours ended us up in siam paragon where its this awesomely huge shopping complex that includes an underwater world attraction in its basement and its upper floors actually house top car showrooms! surprisingly, our vivocity's no where near it.

other than that, the heat in the day here is madness, and it was a crazy idea to have gone to the weekend market. but considering the chances of us returning to bangkok again being slim, we decided to just join the crowd and see what the place had to offer. probably, walking through with a chainsaw would have been really helpful. in the end, we almost died from heatstroke and too much boob rubbing against the crowd.

nonetheless, we managed to get a number of stuff after much bargaining... worth it. (:

unlike this, ronald macdonald only sits down on a bench in singapore

big mac not big enough here. got DOUBLE big mac! LOL

car showrooms at siam paragon shopping complex. impressive!

lotus elis

lamborghin

check out their cybercafe

chatuchak weekend market

puppies for sale at the market

after dinner somewhere near china town

the day's been rough, having to settle and discuss our work over at the airport and through the flight. moreover, all the 'waiting to rush' and 'rushing to wait' has gotten me really tired.

on a brigher note, we touched down and arrived at our accomodation safety and smoothly. currently lodging over at the Amari Waterfront hotel which supposedly im hearing from the rest to be five stars. hah, though im not too sure about that, i guess the place has been pretty good so far. but maybe i'll confirm that after tomorrow's breakfast. :D

hopefully there'll be time to do some shopping during the next few days. its surprising to notice that the malls and street stores began to close at about 8.30pm bangkok time on a friday night... leaving us with not much time to explore the surroundings tonight. im thinking of getting a nintendo ds console if i can find one that's cheap down here. haha. unfortunately all that justin's thinking of right now is hitting the gym everyday.

just some pics taken along the way and of our room. bunking in with justin by the way. LOL.

our flight

all of us

groupmates

our room

please do keep us in your prayers as we spend the next few days here in work and leisure. (:

“Love is patient; love is kind
and envies no one.
Love is never boastful, nor conceited, nor rude;
never selfish, not quick to take offense.
There is nothing love cannot face;
there is no limit to its faith,
its hope, and endurance.
In a word, there are three things
that last forever: faith, hope, and love;
but the greatest of them all is love.”

the hard work and sacrifices that went into the recent projects paid off well when their results were released just this week and the last. im relieved, and thank god for the good grades attained! with all the projects completed, there's a little more time these days to catch up on rest and 'hardcore' training for upcoming napfa. only two weeks away! die lahh...


anyway, im scheduled to fly off for bangkok this friday afternoon, and returning on tuesday night. heading over to carry out some research work and audit for a project. but actually my main objective's to get some shooting done there lah. hopefully there'll be some chance to catch the protest marches if they happen to continue. heehee.

in any case, do let me know if you guys would like to get anything from there. (:

syf trainers @ sunday's gathering

courtesy of jieqi's blog (:

syf came and ended sooner than any of us expected. people bond when they suffer together, which probably made everyone in the contingent so close to one another only after such a short period of time. syf 2008 overall has been a fulfilling experience. the prestige of being a redcross ensign, getting all caught up in the excitement of the event, capturing some great shots, for the first time shivering in a parade cause it was so damn cold, and most importantly, having known so many new people, both juniors and instructors... priceless.

no doubt do i miss the times with everyone around and being at the indoor stadium. and while those are just pretty memories to cherish, i am grateful for the new and current friends whom ive made and got even closer to. especially the vis; qingxiang, alvin, esther, jingni, junjie, wai min maam... just to name afew. im sure we will be spending more time together in the future!

probably a regret that i have, was not spending much time with the rcy cadets during the process, which hopefully there will be opportunities for more. nonetheless the least i could do for each and everyone was to have the pictures to keep and always smile at. hoped you guys like the video too! thats my little gift to you all! (:

pictures courtesy of esther ker & shannon

after some time having been away, it was back to fairfield today for its funfair to mark its 120th anniversary. it was a pretty time spent, bumping into the many long seen batchmates and friends whom we all had our pleasant exchanges of 'hellos' and 'how have you been?' with.

the fairfield culture has significantly changed, for both the better and the worst. unfortunately, i don't feel the fairifeld spirit shinning as strongly as it did before. i remembered the great amounts of admiration i had for my seniors and leaders when i was just a lower sec student, of how their charisma, energy and vibe for the school only motivated me to contribute ever more that i could to her. not forgetting the many teachers whom we rather regard as simply, friends.

still, i cannot deny the person that i am moulded into today is a result of what this second home has done for me. for that, there will always be gratitude and a special place deep down for her.

just a few shots i manage to take a long the way. not many as intended to as my hands were sticky and occupied holding melting ice creams the whole time. what a sinful day.

if you thought our mrt was bad, check this out. i laughed my ass off watching it.

and when this happens here, i am migrating out for sure!

incase you haven't heard, there's a real life 'exorcism of emily rose' case happening in our courts currently. well not exactly, since its been dragging from 2004 till present. apparently, a woman is accusing two priests, fr jacob ong and fr simon tan from the redemptorist order at novena church for performing a forced exorcism over her. resulting in her being so psychologically tramatized that she's unable to pee, be alone or getting out of the house... while private investigators showed evidence contrary to these. sheesh.

it appears to me that the priests will end up in a no-win situation. to prove that they did nothing wrong, they need to show that what they did for the plaintiff would have been appropriate, that means proving possession by a spirit or demon, which will not be easy. on the other hand, if their argument stands, that the plaintiff is actually faking her illness, would mean that their assessment of her condition on that day was incorrect, and that subsequent intervention would also be wrong.

hmm... i really pray that the right justice will be served to fr jacob ong and fr simon tan, of whose innocence i strongly believe in, based on evidence provided by lawyers on both side. the trail will continue next monday to friday.

please keep them in your prayers too.


click here to read the whole story

for all who are interested (: